October 12, 2016 – The Christian Festival Association (CFA), a group of the nation’s largest Christian music festivals, announced today that its number of participating member festivals had grown to a record number of 39 events going in to the 2017 festival season. Collectively, these events reached 1.1 million attendees in the summer of 2016.

Members of the Association from around the country gathered in Nashville in late September to share ideas and best practices for their music and teaching ministries. Taking cues from successful mainstream music festivals while remaining steadfast to its mission to propel the Gospel into culture through music and the arts, Association members discussed such diverse topics as: making the Gospel relevant to millennials and Generation Z attendees, festival operational software applications, advanced marketing and leading edge production techniques, national and grassroots sponsorship development, festival security, and the organization’s National Talent Search competition. CFA members were also treated to daily devotions and intimate worship sessions led by evangelist Josh Brewer and artists Plumb and Rend Collective.

Outgoing president Kevin Newton (Unity Festival – Michigan) was honored at the meeting for his four years of “solid gold leadership” as head of the Association. According to incoming president Donna Russo: “We are so very grateful for Kevin’s steadfast faithfulness in service to our Association as our president. Among his numerous accomplishments, Kevin saw the CFA membership double during his tenure. He has built a solid foundation for us to grow on – all the while giving God the glory for all He has done through our ministries.”

CFA Executive Director Bob Thompson added: “It is always such a joy to spend a few days with like-minded brothers and sisters who are so deeply committed to using the platform we have been given to make a difference for the Kingdom of God. In a world that often seems hopeless in its search of a worthy leader, we are grateful for God’s incarnate revelation of hope. And that hope changes everything.”

The current members of the Christian Festival Association are:

Alive Festival – Ohio

AtlantaFest – Georgia

Amplify Fest – Arkansas

Big Ticket Festival – Michigan

Christian Music Day – North Carolina

Creation Festival-Northeast – Pennsylvania

Creation Festival-Northwest – Washington

Elevate Festival – Arizona

En Fuego – Alabama

FISHFEST – California

GraceFest – California

Heaven Fest – Colorado

Hills Alive – South Dakota

JoshuaFest – California

Joyfest – North Carolina

Joyfest – Virginia

Kingdom Bound – New York

King’s Fest – Virginia

LifeLight Festival – South Dakota

Lifest – Wisconsin

PointFest – Ohio

Resound Festival – Missouri

RiseFest – Iowa

Rock The Desert – Texas

Rock The Island – Michigan

Rock The Park – North Carolina

Rock The Smokies – Tennessee

SonLight Festival – North Carolina

Sonrise Festival – Virginia

Sonshine Festival – Minnesota

SoulFest – New Hampshire

Spirit Fest Austin – Texas

SpiritSong Festival – Ohio

Sprit West Coast Festival – Northern California

Spirit West Coast Festival – Southern California (2)

Unity Christian Music Festival – Michigan

Uprise Festival – Pennsylvania

WonderJam – Toronto, Canada

Membership in the Association is available to any Christian festival operator engaged in the production of an annual Christian music festival, in existence for at least three consecutive years, with an average daily attendance of 5,000 or more attendees. Additional details can be found at cfa-membership.com.

About the Christian Festival AssociationThe Christian Festival Association was formed in 2006 and is comprised of thirty nine of the nation’s largest Christian music festivals united by a common goal: to bring glory of God.The group meets regularly via conference calls and at an annual meeting in Nashville to discuss matters such as talent development, spiritual content, event production, marketing, national sponsorship acquisition and other topics of common interest.The Association’s website is www.christianfestivals.com.

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ABOUT THE GMA

To foster interest among the general public in gospel and Christian music, to build community and cooperation among industry leadership in order to address mutual business issues to maximize sales of Christian music and to promote public awareness of Christian music in our culture.